IOGKF

Newsletter

June 2009

Zen & Traditional Karate

By Krista DeCastella - IOGKF Australia:

As part two of two articles, David Lambert and Krista DeCastella
share some their thoughts and perspectives on traditional Karate and
the path. In this article, Krista DeCastella writes about Zen, Traditional
Karate principles and the link between the two...

So, I'm sitting here in seiza and my legs are killing me. I’m trying
to observe the pain, but just can’t understand how people can mediate
through this kind of torture. “Stop thinking Krista… concentrate on
your breathing… Surely it’s been half an hour already… I wonder if the
monks would notice if I try to wiggle my toes back to life… where is
the pain coming from when I can’t feel my legs...?” I steal a quick
glimpse of Yamashiro-Sensei. He’s sitting across the room from me poised
in lotus position, his long hakama pants draped around him. He looks
so peaceful and dignified, just like the monks sitting on either side.
I don’t know how they do it. To be honest, this isn’t exactly what I
had in mind when Sensei first invited me to come to Zazen…

For Higaonna Sensei, getting up at 5am to get to zazen meditation
is just part of his weekly routine. Over the years he has become close
friends with Grand Master, Roshi Sogen Sakiyama – the head monk at Naha’s
Kozenji temple. The two of them share a love of traditional karate and
have had such engaging conversations on the topic, Sensei explains that
at times he’s been left sitting in seiza for up to 2 to 3 hours straight.

Above: Portrait of Bodhidharma – the Indian Monk credited
with bringing martial arts and Zen to China

He explains that zen meditation offers the perfect balance for martial
arts students – quiet, internal training of the mind to compliment the
hard, physical training of the body – yet another beautiful metaphor
for go and ju. Perhaps this is why most regular zazen students (who
aren’t monks), are martial artists from one style or another - “Like
a zazen karate club” Sensei jokes. Zen and the preservation of traditional
karate are clearly topics close to Sensei’s heart. While sports karate
has its merits, Goju-Ryu is primarily about traditional training and
a commitment to upholding the techniques, etiquette and ideals of karate
as it was originally taught back in the days of Kanyro Higaonna and
Chojun Miyagi’s garden dojos.

Above: Enso – The symbol of Japanese Zen Buddhism

Today, while certificates, competition and tournaments are good goals
for students in training (especially when they start out), the pursuit
of

traditional karate requires that one’s motives progress beyond these
things. In sports karate, students often retire young. Goju Ryu by contrast,
is a life-long pursuit. In traditional karate you continue to strive
for perfection until the day you die. “Some karate masters” says Sensei,
“come back as ghosts and keep training”.

In karate this kind of practice is referred to as keiko 稽古. Unlike
the Japanese word for practice in other sports (練習 Renshuu), the characters
for keiko carry a slightly different meaning. Kei 稽 (to think or consider)
and ko/furui 古 (old or ancient) also carry a meaning of tradition and
respect (tracing or considering the old) – the practice and study of
ancient teaching through transference from teacher to student.

For me, traditional karate is also about training with an open mind,
humble attitude, eagerness to learn, and determination to always do
your best. Through it we learn self-discipline, modesty and respect
for others. But perhaps most importantly, we learn a little about ourselves.

As Sensei once said in an interview with Dragon Times: “Physical
training is just the gateway to mastery of the mind. That's why you
must strive to achieve true humility through training. If you don't,
it's difficult if not impossible to rise above the purely physical because
your mind is forever clouded by thoughts of material things, pride and
scorn for others, and similar negative feelings”

While some of you may be happy to leave ‘mastery of the mind’ to
the monks, it’s still worth remembering that the idea of zen in martial
arts doesn’t have to be something mystical. On the contrary, it may
just be simplicity itself that best defines it – simple, hard training
for training’s sake. Learning to push our bodies and our spirits through
exhaustion, pain and even boredom in the hope we might grow a little
as human beings.

The Japanese Zen Master Taisen Deshimaru frequently wrote about the
principals of Zen and Bushido noting that for the monk and the warrior
there was no difference between the two. vIn the West, there’s a tendency
to often think of karate simply as a fitness or self-defense thing.
When in reality, we might not even realize the deeper meaning behind
much of what we do - the short meditation (moksoi) at the beginning
and end of each class; the emphasis on tanden and breathing; whole body
awareness, concentration and ‘presentness’ at every moment; even the
use of pain as a tool for increasing focus, overcoming ego and learning
humility and respect. Perhaps the best parallel with Zen is in the simple
pursuit of self-improvement – the constant striving to better ourselves
physically, mentally, and spiritually.

So next time you catch yourself going through the motions, be mindful
of the significance of these actions. This is what traditional karate
is made of.